[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 21 (Monday, May 29, 2006)]
[Pages 1010-1014]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Pennsylvania Congressional Victory Committee Dinner in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

May 24, 2006

    Thank you all. Thanks for coming. I want to thank you for joining 
the Pennsylvania Congressional Victory Committee. I am so honored to be 
standing by two of the young stars of the United States Congress. You 
know, I've been up there long enough to be able to spot talent, and Jim 
Gerlach and Mike Fitzpatrick are really talented Congressmen, and they 
deserve to be reelected to the United States Congress.
    I appreciate Karen. It's good to see you again, Karen. Thanks for 
coming. Katie, Rob, Joel, Jay, and Katelyn are also here. [Laughter] All 
you got to do is register them to vote, and it's a landslide. [Laughter]
    And I appreciate Kathy Fitzpatrick and Jimmy for being here as well. 
And by the way, Mike's mother [father] *, James, and mom, Mary, is with 
us. So it's good to have the Fitzpatrick family well represented to pay 
honor to this good man here.
    * White House correction.
    I appreciate all the local officials who are here and the grassroots 
activists. See, you win campaigns by being able to raise money--

[[Page 1011]]

and we've raised a lot tonight, and thank you for that. But you also win 
campaigns by convincing people to put up the signs and make the phone 
calls and go to the coffee shops and go to your houses of worship and 
tell people, when you've got somebody who's decent, honest, and 
honorable, put them back in office. And we've got people who are decent, 
honest, and honorable representing the 6th and 8th Congressional 
Districts here from Pennsylvania.
    And so thank you for what you have done and what you're going to do 
coming down the stretch of the elections. We're just kind of getting 
warmed up. [Laughter] We're in the jumping-jack phase of the political 
season. [Laughter] We're getting ready to run and win. And one of the 
interesting things about politics, you can't win without a good 
candidates, and we've got two really fine candidates standing right up 
here on the stage.
    Jim Gerlach is an experienced leader. He's been involved for 16 
years in the political process. He is a--he's an independent voice, 
which is good. It's good for the people of this congressional district. 
He believes in low taxes. I appreciate his strong stand on national 
security. He's a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee, and that's important for people in his congressional district 
because he's helped to improve traffic and roads, and he's promoted open 
spaces as well. He's a good, thoughtful Member of the United States 
Congress. And the people in his district are lucky to have him there, as 
far as I'm concerned.
    Mike Fitzpatrick--I don't know what it's like in local politics 
here, but the county commissioner is somebody who generally knows the 
feelings of the people, and Mike was a county commissioner. And he's 
pretty--it means he was close to the constituents; he knows what they 
think. It's important to have people in Washington who don't lose touch 
with the constituents. And Mike Fitzpatrick certainly didn't lose the 
touch.
    He is an Eagle Scout, and interestingly enough, he continually goes 
to Eagle Scout ceremonies. You know why? He wants to help some other 
youngster set high values and understand the importance of achievement, 
but he also wants to thank the parents and those involved in the Scout 
troops for reaching out to help somebody.
    I like Mike a lot. He's an honorable fellow who is for low taxes, 
good environmental policy; he cares a lot about health care. The people 
of his congressional district are really lucky to have him representing 
them.
    We're going to win the elections in November of 2006. The reason why 
is we get things done on behalf of the American people. We've been given 
some challenges, and we've responded to meet those challenges. I spend 
the most time as your President working on ways to secure our country. 
The biggest challenge we face is to make sure that we prevent another 
attack on the American people. Much of my thinking about the presidency 
was formed on September the 11th, 2001. It's a day, of course, I will 
never forget; it's a day that all of us should never forget; it's a day 
in which our standing in the world changed dramatically. Because you 
see, we grew up thinking oceans could protect us, and we realized that 
there's an enemy out there that will do incredible harm to the American 
people. I'm proud to have allies in the United States Congress who 
understand that our most important job in Washington is to protect the 
American people.
    We face an enemy that is totalitarian in nature. They've taken a 
great religion and have hijacked it to suit their own needs. They're 
Islamo-fascists. They will kill innocent life to achieve an objective. 
They have made it clear they'd like to hurt America again. They would 
like to drive us out of regions of the world so they could establish 
safe haven. They would like to mate their terrible ambitions with 
weapons of mass destruction. These are their words, not mine. They 
believe this country is soft, and it's just a matter of time before we 
lose our nerve. And I'm proud to have two Members of the United States 
Congress standing up here who understand the stakes and who are strong 
in the support of the men and women who wear our uniform and strongly 
support our efforts to bring the enemy to justice before they hurt us 
again.
    A battlefront in the war on terror is, of course, Iraq. And people 
in our country are unsettled because of the war, and I understand that. 
I fully understand why people in

[[Page 1012]]

America are disquieted about what they're seeing on their TV screens. 
There's a concern about whether or not we can win. There's no doubt in 
my mind we will win. And our objective is to have an Iraq that can 
govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself; an ally in the war on 
terror, and an example for others in a region that is desperate for 
freedom.
    The enemy cannot defeat us on the battlefield, but what they can do 
is put horrible images on our TV screens. And it's really important for 
those who wear our uniform and the enemy and the people of Iraq to know 
that the United States of America will complete the mission, and in so 
doing, will make our country more secure and will be laying the 
foundation for peace.
    I appreciate working with Members of Congress who understand the 
lessons of history. And one of the really interesting lessons of 
history, one way I'd like to describe what's taking place in the world 
today, is my relationship--I describe my relationship with the Prime 
Minister of Japan, Koizumi. He's a good friend of mine, personally. He's 
an interesting fellow. He loved Elvis. [Laughter] Still does. [Laughter] 
You know what's interesting, though, about my talks with the Prime 
Minister--and by the way, when I sit down at the table with him, we talk 
about how we can keep the peace. We talk about how to deal with North 
Korean and the fact that he's trying to develop a weapon of mass 
destruction and, at the same time, creating starvation inside his 
country. We talk about the young democracy of Iraq, where Japan has 
1,000 troops. We talk about a fledgling democracy in Afghanistan and how 
we can work together to help this young, new democracy grow and 
flourish.
    It's really interesting, isn't it? What makes it even more 
interesting is the fact that 60 years ago or so, my dad went to war with 
the Japanese. And something happened between the 19-year-old Navy pilot, 
George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush sitting at the table talking about 
the peace. And what happened was, my predecessor--one of my 
predecessors--Harry S. Truman, believed in what I believed in, the 
universality of freedom, the capacity of people to be--to take on 
democracy, and the knowledge that democracy yields the peace.
    And so what you're seeing today is tyranny going to democracy, is 
people who demanded freedom--12 million people said, ``I want to be 
free''--learning what it means to self-govern. Someday an American 
President is going to be able to tell the story of our generation. 
They're going to be able to tell the story of those of us who've been 
honored to serve our country and say, ``Thank goodness they believed in 
the capacity of freedom to take a troubled country and convert it into 
an ally.'' Someday an American President is going to be sitting down 
with a duly elected leader from Iraq, working to keep the peace, and our 
children and grandchildren are going to be better off.
    Here at home, we've got a strong economy. You know, the economy grew 
at 3.5 percent last year. That is faster than any other major 
industrialized nation in the world. The national unemployment rate is 
4.7 percent, which happens to be the unemployment rate here in the State 
of Pennsylvania. We created 5.2 million new jobs since August of 2003. 
People are working. After-tax real income is up more than 8 percent per 
American since 2001. Productivity is on the rise; homeownership is high; 
small businesses are flourishing. This economy is strong, and we intend 
to keep it that way.
    I think it's amazing to be able to tell you how strong the economy 
is, given through--what we have been through, however. We've been 
through a recession; we've been through corporate scandals; we've been 
through a stock market correction; we've been through an attack on our 
country; we've been through wars; we have been through natural 
disasters; we've been through high energy prices. Yet we have got a 
strong economy. You know why? Because we cut the taxes on the American 
people.
    Our progrowth economic policies work. The three of us believe that 
when you have more of your own money in your pocket to save, invest, or 
spend, the economy grows. We would rather you spend your money than the 
Federal Government spends your money.
    Now, you'll hear them in the campaign, they'll be talking about the 
deficit. I'm confident they'll be yelling about the deficit at these two 
Congressmen. Let me just set the record straight for you. See, they're 
going to

[[Page 1013]]

say, ``We're going to run up your taxes to balance the budget.'' That's 
not the way Washington, DC, works. They're going to run up your taxes, 
and they're going to figure out new ways to spend your money on new 
programs, and there will still be a deficit.
    The best way to reduce the deficit is to keep progrowth economic 
policies in place and be wise about how we spend your money, which is 
exactly what we're doing in Washington. We're on our way to cut the 
deficit in half by 2009.
    One of my concerns is that the United States will lose our nerve and 
fear competition and become an isolated place. You know, when you see 
the global competition these days from China and India, some in our 
country say, ``Well, I don't think we want to try to compete with 
them.'' And so they worry about protectionism--they think about 
protectionism, or they're isolators--that's not my attitude, and I know 
it's not the attitude of these Congressmen. We have nothing to fear 
about the future, because we intend to shape it, see. We intend to make 
America the most competitive nation in the world.
    So I'm going to work with these two Congressmen to pass what we've 
called the American Competitive Initiative, which says that we will be 
the most--we'll lead the world when it comes to research and 
development. The Federal Government should double its commitment to 
basic research in physical sciences over the next 10 years. People say, 
``Why would the Federal Government be investing?'' Well, I'll give you 
why--the Internet. The Internet came to be because of Federal research 
dollars--iPods--got one? I got one, you know--[laughter]--as a result of 
Federal research. It's important for the United States to be the most 
technologically advanced nation in the world.
    And that's why I've called for Congress to make the research and 
development tax credit a permanent part of our Tax Code. And that's why 
I look forward to working with these Congressmen to make sure that our 
schools are adept at teaching people the skills necessary to fill the 
jobs of the 21st century, which means strong math and science 
curriculum.
    So today I went out to one of the most advanced nuclear powerplants 
in the world--at least in our country. And I did so because I wanted to 
make this point: In order for us to be a competitive nation, in order 
for us to keep a high standard of living, we have got to get off of our 
addiction to oil. And I'm looking forward to working with these 
Congressmen to do that.
    And so I talked today, and I'm going to work with the Congressmen to 
continue to spend your money on research and development; for example, 
to speed up new battery technology so that the hybrid--we'll have plug-
in hybrid batteries, which means, in Philadelphia, you'll be driving the 
first 40 miles per day on electricity, not on gasoline; or more advanced 
uses of ethanol so we can be using crops grown here in America rather 
than oil from the Middle East to power our automobiles. Eventually, 
we'll be firing up our automobiles using hydrogen.
    I went to the powerplant today. It's estimated that demand for 
electricity is going to increase by 50 percent over young people's 
lifetimes, which means we better have the capacity to generate 
electricity and protect our environment at the same time. And a really 
good way to do so is through nuclear power.
    I'm also going to work with the Congressmen to continue to spend 
research money on clean coal technology. We've got 240 years worth of 
coal; let's burn it cleanly. Let's use it in a way that says we can 
protect our environment and make sure we maintain our standard of 
living.
    We'll continue to invest in solar technology. Here's the dream of 
solar technology--and by the way, we've got $150 million in my budget 
for solar technology. The dream is, is that every house will have a 
solar roof to it. And if you do not use all the power generated that day 
from the sun, you feed it back into the grid. It's like your little 
powerplant. [Laughter] You become a generator of electricity. It's 
coming.
    And we intend to lead the charge to change our habits when it comes 
to energy to protect our environment, on the one hand, and to make sure 
the United States is a competitive nation on the other.
    I want to talk about health care. For years, Democrats have been 
talking about Medicare, see, how they're going to make it work

[[Page 1014]]

better. They never did--they never got the job done. So we came along. 
We modernized Medicare for our seniors. We said, ``If you make a pledge 
to the seniors of the United States, make it a good pledge; make it 
work.'' You see, the Government would pay $25,000 for an ulcer surgery 
but not a dime for the prescription drugs to prevent the surgery from 
being needed in the first place. What I'm telling you is, medicine had 
become modern, but Medicare hadn't.
    And so we changed it. And today, more than 32 million seniors have 
enrolled in Part D of Medicare, which means there's a prescription drug 
benefit. The average senior saves one-half on his or her drug bills. And 
if you're a poor senior--about a third of those eligible for Medicare--
the Federal Government is going to pay 95 percent of your drug bills. 
The days of a senior having to choose between food and medicine are 
gone, thanks to the Republican Party.
    But we also understand that we don't want the Federal Government 
running your health care. The best health care system is one where the 
patient-doctor relationship is central to the decisionmaking, and that's 
why we're for transparency, information technology in the health care 
field. That's why we're strong believers in health savings accounts, 
which will help the uninsured and the small-business owners. We're 
believers in association health plans that will allow small businesses 
to pool risk across jurisdictional boundaries so they can buy insurance 
at the same discounts that big businesses get to do.
    I'll tell you what else we're for: We understand that frivolous and 
junk lawsuits run good doctors out of practice and runup the cost of 
your medicine. And you got a problem here in Pennsylvania. You got ob-
gyns leaving your State. You got specialists who are fearful of 
practicing medicine. And you need people like these two Congressmen who 
are willing to stand up to the trial lawyers and promote good, strong 
medical liability reform.
    Finally, although they're not in the Senate, I appreciate them 
supporting me in picking judges, the right kind of judges--judges who 
will not legislate from the bench but judges who will strictly interpret 
the Constitution. I am proud to have nominated Chief Justice John 
Roberts and Justice Sam Alito, and I'm even prouder they got confirmed 
by the United States Senate.
    Ours is a philosophy that trusts people. We'd rather you have your 
money. We believe you can spend it wisely. We believe you can make the 
right decisions when it comes to medicine. We believe our seniors should 
be given modern medicine, and we delivered on our promises. The other 
bunch, they get angry, and they yell and they, you know, scream and 
holler. We just go about and get the job done. We're people who can 
deliver results on behalf of the American people.
    I've signed a Medicare reform bill; I've signed an energy bill; I've 
signed tax cuts; I've signed bills to make sure those who wear the 
uniform get the full support of the United States Government. And I'm 
proud to have these two accomplished men serving in Washington, DC. The 
people of Pennsylvania have got two good Congressmen in these two, and 
you need to send them back. They're serving this State with dignity, and 
they're serving our country with honor, and I'm proud to call them 
friends.

Note: The President spoke at 5:46 p.m. at the Sheraton Philadelphia City 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Karen Gerlach, wife of 
Representative Jim Gerlach; Kathleen Fitzpatrick, wife of Representative 
Michael G. Fitzpatrick; Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; and 
Chairman Kim Chong-il of North Korea.